Care Net’s Williamstown location features a sister act that brings love, hope, reassurance, humor and practical wisdom to women and couples facing crisis pregnancy in Grant County. Center Director Denise Melton and Center Assistant Tiffany Gabbert know they are exactly where God wants them to be.
After 18 years spent homeschooling her four children, Tiffany (photo, below) felt the time was right for a new path. That path led to Care Net after she heard Executive Director Lyndi Zembrodt speak at her church, including mention of an opening for center assistant at the Williamstown location.
Soon afterward, Tiffany’s sister, Denise, shared her own news: after 27 years as a paraeducator, she was retiring from Dry Ridge Elementary School and taking a job at Care Net.
But the sisters weren’t competing for the same job. The center director position at Williamstown had opened up as well, and Denise had taken that job. Tiffany then joined as center assistant.
The sisters’ loving—and fun-loving—relationship is the heart of the Williamstown center. Women and couples feel the sisters’ warmth, compassion and care from the start.
“I have grown to understand that in addition to saving babies, we also enrich the lives of mothers, fathers and families as a whole,” Tiffany said. “We offer many resources and parenting strategies to strengthen the entire family.”
Denise agrees. “One of the things that most impresses me about Care Net are the programs to help our clients. Some are court-ordered because they made choices out of addiction that created circumstances where they are trying to learn better parenting skills. Some didn’t have an ideal home situation so they need mentoring. We teach parenting skills and also classes to help them deal with things they went through as children that have been huge hindrances.”
Helping young families get a better start or a new start was an easy decision for Denise. “I enjoyed my job at Dry Ridge Elementary. But it was time for a change and to help individuals and families in difficult seasons of their lives. I feel I do that here at Care Net. Tiffy and I love meeting these clients and mentoring them. We form such a bond with them. We want them to succeed in their personal lives, in their professional lives, and especially with themselves and their children. We want them to have a good life. We love them.”
Coming to Care Net was a natural extension of ministry for Denise. For several years, she and Jeff, her husband of 42 years, worked with people struggling with addiction. Tiffany plays keyboards for her church’s praise team. She also breeds goldendoodles, and she and her husband, Jason, are avid do-it-yourselfers.